328 locations are new
WASHINGTON – Today the Environmental Working Group updated its interactive PFAS map of sites contaminated with the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS to show 3,186 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia and two territories. There are 328 newly confirmed locations with detections of PFAS.
The true scale of contamination is likely much greater since water utility PFAS testing data released by the Environmental Protection Agency last week accounts for just 20 percent of U.S. water systems nationwide that will test for 29 different PFAS compounds as part of the EPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR 5.
On August 17, the EPA released the first results of PFAS tests from 2,000 water utilities across the nation. Tests are planned under the UCMR 5 for a total of 10,000 water systems by the end of 2025. The initial round of data confirms the presence of one or more PFAS compounds at 431 locations serving 26.3 million people. The tests also support EWG scientists’ estimate from 2020 that more than 200 million Americans could have PFAS in their drinking water.
Some of the prominent newly identified sites include:
- Fresno, Calif. (population: 522,352) – nine PFAS at 194.3 parts per trillion, or ppt.
- New Castle, Del. (population: 6,000) – two PFAS at 270 ppt.
- Robeson County, N.C. (population: 64,295) – nine PFAS at 149.7 ppt.
- Suffolk County, N.Y. (population: 1,100,000) – four PFAS at 92.8 ppt.
The average number of individual PFAS detected in water is 3.1 forever chemicals per water system. Among the locations with the highest PFAS detections, 28 water systems reported PFAS at levels above 70 ppt, the EPA’s previous non-enforceable health guideline.
Five systems had a detection of PFAS at 100 ppt or higher, and the Yeshiva Farm Settlement, in New York, reported an astonishing 10 PFAS at 427.6 ppt.
“For decades, millions of Americans have unknowingly consumed water tainted with PFAS,” said Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at EWG. “The widespread presence of PFAS contamination is a huge problem that has persisted for years. This new testing shows that escaping PFAS is nearly impossible.”
The most common PFAS detected are:
- PFPeA, detected in 207 systems.
- PFBA, detected in 198 systems.
- PFHxA, detected in 198 systems.
- PFBS, detected in 192 systems.
- PFOS, detected in 170 systems.
- PFOA, detected in 156 systems.
- PFHxS, detected in 123 systems.
Water utility tests for PFAS, as required by the agency’s UCMR 5, are being conducted between 2023 and 2025, with new data expected quarterly.
The new findings underscore the imperative for the Biden administration to quickly finalize national drinking water standards for tackling PFAS in drinking water.
In March, the EPA proposed bold new limits for six PFAS in public water systems. The two best studied and most notorious compounds – PFOA, once used in Teflon, and PFOS, formerly used in Scotchgard – would each have a limit of 4 ppt in drinking water. The chemicals PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX would be subject to a hazard index calculation to determine whether the levels of these PFAS pose a potential health risk.